Can Improper Ergonomics at Home Affect Stress?

We are experiencing a time where we are forced to change the way we live, work and socialize. Now that 42% of working Americans are working full-time from home, it is incredibly important to understand how a proper ergonomic workplace setup can affect you in a positive way. Typically, companies will study ergonomics and find ways to implement it into the office and workplace, but now that most of us are working from home, it is up to us to create a safe work environment in the comfort of our own homes.

When you create a safe work environment and improve your at-home workplace ergonomics, you can work to boost your productivity, decrease the risk of an injury, and take steps to actively reduce the stress-buildup that can occur while working from home.

How Important is Proper Ergonomics in the Workplace?

Ergonomics is the study of workers’ efficiency in the workplace. If you are not working at ergonomically friendly workstations, you can encounter many different musculoskeletal injuries ranging from headaches, tendonitis, sore muscles, neck pain, and lower back complications.

When companies introduced a corporate ergonomic program, the productivity of employees skyrocketed by 54 percent. In this same study, the number of workers’ compensation cases dropped by 94 percent, and employee turnover reduced by 94 percent. These statistics show that creating an ergonomically friendly workspace has incredible rewards for both the company and their employees.

Working Americans spend close to eight hours daily at a desk on average, which means sitting in a chair and staring at a computer for most of the week, especially if you’re now working from home where effective communication means being close to a computer or mobile device to interact with and work with your co-workers.

If your computer isn’t set up at the correct height, you could be craning your neck downwards which can put tremendous stress on your cervical spine and result in headaches and neck pain over time. Something as simple as studying proper ergonomics techniques can drastically change how employees feel day to day and their quality of work.

If you’re not enjoying your work because you’re experiencing pain or improper ergonomics have forced you to develop bad habits that lead to pain or discomfort over time, eventually that will build up stress and negatively impact your view of work. Essentially, if you conduct an ergonomics assessment to improve the workplace environment, it can lead to better productivity and performance and less musculoskeletal issues.

Ergonomics assessments can also help you identify things that could be contributing to your discomfort or potential improvements that could be made quickly. Oftentimes it’s a few simple adjustments in our daily lives that could drastically improve your workplace ergonomics and increase your productivity quickly.

What Are a Few Proper Ergonomics Workplace Guidelines?

Since ergonomics is all about creating a workplace that aligns with your capabilities, it would make sense that the most important things including the chair, desk level, and computer placement are structured in a way where it is possible for you to work at your desk and work station comfortably without it being harmful for most of the day.

Here are a few starter tips if you are creating an ergonomically-friendly workplace for yourself at home:

• Choose a comfortable chair and adjust the height so your feet are placed flat on the floor. If there are armrests on the chair, they should be placed so your arms can rest comfortably and your shoulders are in a relaxed state.
• If you find that your desk is too tall and your chair won’t allow you to rest your feet flat on the floor, consider putting a small footrest under your desk so you can ensure that you’re sitting comfortably while working.
• Make sure that when you’re sitting at your desk and in your chair, that your shoulders aren’t scrunched up from tension.
• Keep your mouse and keyword at the same height. Your wrists and hands should be at or below elbows level – avoid reaching up to type.
• If you are using the phone while working, try not to put the phone between your neck and shoulder – this forces an unnatural posture on the neck and can cause irritation.
• Instead, try to find a way to put the phone on speaker if there aren’t any outside distractions or connect a microphone or bluetooth communication device so you can talk while working without having to crane your neck into uncomfortable positions or tire out your arms from holding the phone.
• Adjust your computer so that it is directly in front of you about an arm’s length away.
• Get moving! Breaks are important to get your blood pumping and your body moving. Even quick breaks can help you spice up your day and get the blood moving so you don’t feel like you’re sitting at your desk all day.
  1. Try a standing desk and walk-in place
  2. Go on walking meetings
  3. Take a walk at lunch
  4. Do some low impact at-home exercises to get the blood pumping on your breaks
• Make sure that you’re not having to reach to interact with your keyboard and mouse. Having to reach long distances might make you subconsciously lean forward or place yourself in an awkward position to use your keyboard and mouse.
• Try to avoid using any unique designs or uncomfortable keyboard and mouse peripherals that could make you put your hands and arms in akwward positions while working. They might seem cool for gimmick items, but they could also be setting yourself up for a nagging injury if you’re having to work for extended periods of time in an uncomfortable position.

One of the best ways to make sure that you’re setting yourself up for success and working to improve your ergonomics over time is by making it a priority. By utilizing some of the tips we’ve outlined above, you can make sure that you’re taking a few of the necessary steps to create an ergonomically friendly workplace both at home and when you head into the office. Now that we’ve highlighted ways in which you can improve your workplace ergonomics, we’re going to highlight how improper ergonomics can have a big impact on the stress you experience while working.

How Can Improper Ergonomics Produce Stress?

Oftentimes work causes us to stress out, whether that be a looming deadline, a difficult project, or preparation for a big meeting. There are a number of contributing factors that can make you feel stressed out at work or lead to the buildup over time. Before stress becomes overwhelming and eventually leads to burnout, there are steps you can take to actively reduce the burden, especially by improving your ergonomics while working.

Stress can be absorbed into our muscles and cause our muscles to become tense, this can result in chronic headaches, migraines, and a stiff neck. What makes this even worse is the improper ergonomics of your workstation which adds gravity to your already existent stressed muscles. Even if your work isn’t adding stress to your day, you could be building up tension and create stress from the uncomfortable positions you’re putting your body in each day.

For example, if you are hunched over your keyword and looking down at your monitor, you are craning your neck and putting an impossible amount of weight and pressure on your neck. Your neck can become sore, stiff, and create cervicogenic headaches either for the day or become chronic if your workstation stays the same.

Oftentimes, this type of stress builds up over time and it becomes a nagging issue that you can’t remember where it came from. Only on rare occasions does improper workplace ergonomics create an overnight issue that you’ll remember where it came from. Instead, this kind of injury and nagging stress builds up over time and sneaks up on you if you’re not taking steps to prevent it.

If you are constantly sitting at your desk in a chair that doesn’t support the lumbar spine and you have not prioritized taking short breaks or walks throughout the day, you can develop lower back pain. Did you know that four out of five people will experience lower back pain in their life?

Bad posture is one of the biggest contributors when it comes to lower back pain because it puts too much pressure on the disks of the back, which protects the vertebrae from rubbing together. Lower back pain costs can begin to rise quite quickly, which is why you should make it a priority to make sure that you’re doing all you can to avoid developing a chronic lower back issue.

Long-Term Health Effects from Improper Ergonomics at Work:

There are several potential drawbacks and long-term health effects that can result from improper ergonomics at work or from your at-home workstation. Take the time to review all of the things we’ve outlined above, because you could experience some of these long-term health effects below:

• Spinal degeneration at an early age
• Lack of productivity
• Risk of injury is higher
• Lower metabolic rate
• Respiratory dysfunction
• Postural issues/ aging
• Higher number of employees being absent from work

It’s easy to see how important it is to take the time to assess your workstation to see if it meets proper ergonomic guidelines to improve your work productivity and how you feel day to day. Since most of us do spend extended amounts of time at our desks each day, it’s time to consider how to make the most out of our workday to keep us happy and healthy.

If you find that you’re experiencing a nagging injury or stress that could potentially be due to your improper ergonomics at work, physical therapy can help you. In addition to helping alleviate pain and many of the long-term health effects that can result in poor ergonomics or stress as a result of poor ergonomics, physical therapy can help you identify issues and work to resolve them through a comprehensive treatment program and your unique goals and needs.

Schedule an Appointment Today to connect with a licensed Physical Therapist who can help you alleviate your pain or recover from a previous injury at one of our hundreds of in-person clinics or virtually through telehealth.